


Ninten's Guide on How to Handle Feelings

by megastarstrike



Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings, Mother 3
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - High School, Background Nesscas, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-01-01 02:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18326768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: If Ninten was going to survive his stupid promise to Lucas to try getting along with his brother and this goddamn partner project, he would need to keep his emotions in check long enough to not deck Claus in the face.His solution? A notebook.





	1. Step 1: Don't Have Them

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mousekins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mousekins/gifts).



> gifted to mouse for enabling my stupid ideas

Contrary to popular belief, Ninten was not as stupid as he made himself out to be. He acted like the class clown in his classes and generally came off as a sarcastic asshole, but he had all A’s in school without trying. He guided his sisters through their troubles. He reached out to students sitting alone at lunch tables. There was surely some good in him.

But apparently all of that went straight out the window the moment a ginger fuckface pulled one of his friends away from him and glared at him with the intensity of the sun, rambling on about “not bothering Lucas” and “staying away.”

Ninten and Lucas shared an exasperated look.

It was supposed to be a quiet conversation in the halls after school with Lucas. Their routine was meeting up by Ninten’s locker, talking about anything and everything, then either heading out to the baseball field or walking to the park together, depending on the day. While that was their usual schedule, there were occasional curveballs like another person joining in or the weather deciding to act up. It always turned out okay. Ninten embraced change, but this one was overkill.

Ninten took a moment to observe the bastard who had the balls to pull that shitty move. Tousled orange hair. Wow, what a fucking cliche. And glittering green eyes, too? This guy was checking off everything on the evil ginger stereotype list.

Well… at least his fashion sense was alright. And he had a decent amount of muscle. Not to mention, he was a few inches taller than him and could probably pin him against the lockers if he wanted to—

Now’s not the time to be gay.

Ninten fought down a flush that threatened to rise to his face. Sure, the guy might be hot, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t an asshole who needed to be taught a lesson. His lips curved into a smirk. “Sorry, not sure what the problem is here. Could you repeat, like, all of that?”

His eyes narrowed, and Lucas buried his face in his hands, mumbling prayers.

Uh oh. It felt like he had picked the wrong dialogue option in a video game, but there was no turning back now.

“Listen, I’ve got places to be,” Ninten said. Alarms rang in his head. Whatever he was about to do in his bout of nervousness would undoubtedly be a horrible idea, but he couldn’t stop himself. “As pretty are you are, I don’t have time to stare at your face all day. So bye, Cinnamon. And bye, Lucas!” And with that, he walked down the hall, humming a tune and pretending like he didn’t break into a run as soon as he was out of eyeshot.

Lucas’s laughter rang through the empty halls, followed by another voice shouting, “Cinnamon is brown, you fucking idiot!”

Ninten grinned. One point for him, zero points for Cinnamon.

(But when he returned home and was immediately scolded by his mother for running without his inhaler, he realized he hadn’t truly won anything.)

 

* * *

 

The next day when Lucas walked into their first class with the brightest grin Ninten had ever seen, he felt slightly scared for his life. Just a bit.

“Hey, Lucas,” Ninten said, careful to not let his voice waver. He raised a hand in greeting. “What’s up with you today?”

Lucas took his seat next to him. “What do you mean? I’m the same as always.”

It was overwhelmingly clear that was not the case. While the other students in their literature class hadn’t caught on, Ninten noticed how straight Lucas sat up and the hint of smugness on his face. Not to mention, he knew those twinkling eyes. Those were the eyes of someone scheming. Ninten didn’t exactly peg Lucas for the mischievous type, but he knew he was smart; he would have to be careful around him.

“You look like you just entered the same horse-racing contest as your nemesis and stabbed his horse.”

“Why would I ever stab a horse? I love animals!”

“That’s not the point here.”

Lucas sighed, then his grin softened into a smile. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just messing with you. Sorry.”

“It’s all good. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday. I meant to introduce you to my brother earlier, but the opportunity never came up.” He sighed and buried his cheek into his palm. “Really sorry about that.”

The words took a moment for Ninten to process. “That was your brother?”

“Yeah. He’s my older twin. His name is Claus.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?”

“Uh… I don’t know.” With that, Lucas slouched, and the playful twinkle in his eyes disappeared. He looked like a scared animal trying to disappear into a hole in the ground. “Are you upset?”

Ninten frowned. As overbearing and dramatic as he may be at times, he never intended to scare his friends, least of all this one. “Of course not. You’re allowed to not tell me things.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Lucas broke into a giggle, his grin shining as brightly as the sun. “But I really think you did a number on Claus yesterday. His face was so red, and he wouldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. But they were mostly insults I will not repeat to you.”

“Thank you for protecting my feelings.”

“No problem.”

Ninten drummed his fingers on the table while Lucas finished the last of his homework.

This was going to be trouble, wasn’t it? Claus looked way too familiar for them to not have any classes with each other. Lucas always sat in the bleachers of the school’s baseball field when they had practice, so his brother would undoubtedly be attending as well, whether he liked it or not. Ninten got the feeling his actions would have major consequences.

Whatever. He could handle any curveball life decided to throw at him.

So Ninten ignored the dread building in his stomach and helped his friend with homework.

 

* * *

 

Ninten had never been so sad to be right in his entire life.

His gaze trailed Claus as he sat in the very front of the room, not sparing anyone in the back rows a glance. Whether that was on purpose or how he always took his seat, Ninten didn’t know, but what he did know was everyone around him was more anxious than usual.

For one, instead of fidgeting with some device like he usually did before classes started, Lloyd stared down at the table with a blank expression that revealed nothing. That was already concerning itself, but a few chairs down from him, Pippi had her face buried in a book. Her eyes frantically scanned the pages, and she almost ripped a page out from turning too fast. Everyone else in the class followed suit with the same actions or some variation of it.

He elbowed his friend sitting next to him and whispered, “Hey, Ana, why’s everyone so sad today?”

Ana turned to him with a face that clearly read _Oh, you sweet summer child._

That was never a good sign. The last time she had made that face, it was because Ninten had pulled one too many consecutive all-nighters and drowned himself in coffee. She was too nice to tell him he would crash soon, but that was okay. He had learned it himself just a few hours later.

“Ninten, I even reminded you about it,” Ana said, “We’re getting assigned partners for the waves project.”

Well, shit.

Ninten had never been the best at physics, but he wasn’t the worst at it either. If he got a responsible partner who did their share of the work on time, the project would be an easy A. If he got someone else…

His gaze drifted over to Claus before snapping back to Ana. “You think we can rig it to partner us with Lloyd?”

“That’s against the rules.”

“Hypothetically.”

“Sorry, but I think it’s a bit too late for that…”

“What?”

Ana pointed at the screen.

True to her word, their teacher had already projected a table of names on the whiteboard in front of them. A few students whooped in excitement while others groaned to themselves. Most of the class looked around for their partner and offered a small wave. Everyone else seemed content with their assigned partner, so Ninten should be happy too, right?

Then Ninten read the table.

“I have to work on a project with you?” came Claus’s indignant yell.

“Same goes for you, fuckface!” Ninten screamed back.

Before Claus could throw another insult his direction, their teacher gave them both a pointed glare. The two cleared their throats and looked away, but shot each other a glare when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

Ninten slammed his forehead on the table and buried his head underneath his arms, ignoring Ana’s worried prodding.

This was bound to be a disaster.

 

* * *

 

“And the motherfucker turns to me and goes—Hey, wait, are you laughing at me? Lucas!”

Lucas fought to quiet down his hysterical laughter, only for it to grow louder.

He and Ninten sat on a bench near the school but far away for it to not be considered school property (a detail Ninten regularly kept track of. Never knew when it would come in handy). Ninten had thought it would be safe to tell his friend about how fucking irritating his brother was, as surely he would be able to relate, but he supposed not, seeing as how Lucas was doubled over in laughter.

Finally, Lucas settled down with a huge grin on his face. “Sorry, sorry. Why are you telling me this?”

“Because your brother’s a fucking dick.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Tell him to stop being a dick.”

“No can do. He went on this same rant yesterday.” Lucas paused in thought. “Come to think of it, you two seem to have the same reaction to everything. Every time you two interact, I always come home to Claus complaining about you, then you text me about how annoying he is right after his rant finishes. Maybe you guys are secretly psychics.”

“If there’s one person I would be a psychic with, it would not be Clausy.”

Lucas snorted. “Is that your new name for him now?”

Ninten shrugged.

“Be sure not to call him that to his face. I’m pretty sure he could tear your arms out if he really wanted to, and I think you would like to keep your arms.”

“I am rather fond of having all my limbs intact.” Ninten’s eyes took on a mischievous twinkle. “But I’m also fond of teaching people lessons.”

“Ninten, no—”

“Ninten, yes.”

Lucas leveled a concerned stare at him before sighing. “I won’t stop you. But keep in mind he’s your physics partner now. I don’t want you to get stuck doing all the work by yourself if you make him too mad.”

“He’s a nerd, he would never let me take control of his grade.”

Lucas shrugged. He handed him a slip of paper with tiny writing on it in orange ink. “Claus told me to give you this. He says it’s a folder for the project online.”

“He couldn’t just give me his email in person during class? Weak.” Ninten took the slip and stuffed it into his backpack. “Thank you, though. I can see who the evil twin is supposed to be.”

“Claus isn’t evil. He’s just…”

“Clausy?”

“Yes.” Lucas gave him a soft, concerned smile. “Please just give him a chance. He’s my brother and you’re my friend, so I would like to make this work. I asked the same to him today, and he said he would think about it. So I think both of you should work on being friendlier to each other.”

Well, that was an unexpected twist.

“He would agree to jump off a cliff if you told him to,” Ninten snorted. He flinched upon seeing a flash of hurt in Lucas’s eyes. “But… I guess I’ll try to not punch him for a couple days.”

Lucas grinned. “Yay! I promise you won’t regret this.”

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

This was going to be much harder than Ninten originally anticipated.

It was two in the morning, and Ninten stared down at the blank notebook in front of him. The light from his phone constantly buzzing from notifications (seriously, Ness? Go to sleep) illuminated the pages enough for him to make out the faint black lines running across the pages. An owl hooted in the distance.

What was he going to do about this whole Claus situation? They hated each others’ guts but needed to work on a project together and had agreed to be nicer to each other. But Jesus fuck, if he didn’t make Ninten so angry he could _punch in that stupid face of his—_

He blinked.

That was it. Emotions led to actions, most of them regrettable. All Ninten had to do was keep them in check.

So Ninten flipped to the cover of the notebook and titled it with a dark blue pen. Then he flipped to the next page, ready to write.

_Ninten’s Guide on How to Handle Feelings._

_Step 1: Don’t Have Them._


	2. Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them

If there was one word Ninten would use to describe Ness, it would be “big.” While the term certainly wouldn’t apply to his height (a fact Ninten held over his head every day), the volume of his voice shouldn’t have been as high as it was. If he laughed on one side of the baseball field, those on the other side would turn around, wondering what was so funny. The sheer enormity of his hand gestures had almost gotten him into trouble one too many times from hitting someone in the face. And every emotion he felt, he felt them intensely, from jumping for joy after receiving a good grade on a test to crying for hours over a sad news story. Ness was a small person with a big personality, and Ninten appreciated him just the way he was.

But if there were two words Ninten would use to describe Ness in this very moment, they would be “fucking moron.”

“Yo, Ninten,” Ness called, “Is that your boyfriend up there?”

Ninten squinted up at the bleachers, only to see an all too familiar face glaring daggers at him.

The two stood next to the walls of the baseball field, waiting for the rest of their team to arrive. Clouds covered the sky in thick, bubbly groups resembling cotton candy, if cotton candy was slightly threatening. Wind howled against the metal fences. It was shaping up to not be a good practice day, even without Ness saying some dumb ass shit.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to cut practice short,” Ninten said, pointedly ignoring Ness’s question and hoping he would catch on.

Ness shrugged. “I’ll be sure to tell that to the rest of the team. You should tell your boyfriend, too.”

“Ness, you idiot, that’s not my boyfriend. He hates my guts.”

“Yeah, figured.”

“Then why did you—"

“Because messing with you is fun.”

Ninten regretted every decision in his life that brought him to this moment.

Ness smiled and tugged the bill of Ninten’s cap down. “And you should probably take this off. I don’t want you to risk losing it in this weather.”

Ninten waved him off and fixed his cap. “Nah, it’s no big deal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Ness’s face fell. “Every time you say that, something happens. And I don’t think I need to remind you what happened last time.”

He didn’t. Ninten remembered too well. The one time he had forgotten his inhaler to baseball practice, some morons had decided it would be a great idea to smoke right next to the baseball field. Ninten had been stationed on the bench right next to them and started wheezing, tears pricking his eyes from the pain and anxiety clawing at his throat. Luckily, Ness had caught on in time to chase the smokers away with his baseball bat and call for emergency help. Neither of them liked to talk about it.

Ninten felt around his baseball bag. His heart stopped racing when he traced the outline of his inhaler.

“I really think this one will be fine,” Ninten said. He offered him a smile. “Trust me. If it doesn’t, you can hit me with your bat.”

“I’m holding you up on that promise.”

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, let’s play.”

The two gathered their team around for a game.

 

* * *

 

“Told you it would rain.”

Ness shrugged.

The rest of their team had gone home when the first raindrops fell. As co-captains of the baseball team, Ness and Ninten had stayed behind to lock away the school’s baseball equipment and ensure everyone else had rides home. And because of that, the two were stuck under a tiny awning, unable to move a muscle without being hit with rain.

“Did you bring an umbrella?” Ness asked.

“If I brought one, do you think I’d be stuck here with your forgetful ass?”

“Yeah. You’d never actually leave me here by myself.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“No. It’s just a fact.” Before Ninten could respond, Ness grinned and waved at a figure behind him. “Hi, Lucas!”

Ninten turned around, only to see Lucas heading towards them with an umbrella in hand. His smile faded upon seeing Claus next to him with another umbrella.

Lucas ran up to them with a grin. “Hey. Did neither of you bring umbrellas?”

Ness and Ninten looked away sheepishly.

“That’s okay. You can share one with me and Claus. Right?”

Claus shrugged, clearly wanting to sneer something but keeping it in for Lucas’s sake.

Lucas’s smile turned shyer, and he held a hand out to Ness. “Would you like to share an umbrella with me?”

Pink dusted Ness’s face. He chuckled nervously and offered him a bright grin. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“For God’s sake, he doesn’t mind. Go be gay,” Ninten said. He pushed Ness forward out of the awning and under Lucas’s umbrella.

Both their faces grew pinker, if that was even possible at this point. Ness turned back, ready to quip back, then his eyes widened in horror, and the top of Ninten’s head felt too empty.

Ninten whipped around, only to see his cap flying away with the stormy winds.

Shit. Fuck. That cap meant everything to him.

He braced himself to run, then Claus pushed him back under the awning and took off after the hat, abandoning his umbrella.

The three watched in awe as Claus caught the cap, them stormed back over to Ninten. Just as Ninten prepared himself to dodge a punch, Claus screwed the cap over Ninten’s head and bent down to pick up the umbrella.

Ninten stared.

What the fuck had just happened? They both knew Ninten was capable of retrieving the cap himself, and if he wasn’t, Ness would have ran after it without a second thought. Claus had no reason to intervene.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Claus beat him to it.

“Next time, actually get your cap instead of standing there like a jackass."

Right. They had both made that deal to Lucas, but it appeared he had met his “don’t be a douchebag” quota with catching the cap. This was still Claus, after all.

Before Lucas could frown and scold his brother for his words, Ninten grinned and said, “Thank you.”

A pause followed as Claus stared back, almost in disbelief.

“... Whatever.” And with that, Claus stormed off out of the baseball field.

Lucas’s eyebrows furrowed, but he turned back to Ninten. “Do you want to share an umbrella with us? I’m sure we can fit everyone under.”

Ninten looked up at the umbrella. It barely looked fit for two people, much less three. He smirked, and alarm shined in Ness’s eyes. They both knew exactly what he was about to do. “Nah, it’s fine. I can catch Lloyd on his way out.”

“Are you sure?” Ness asked. He made intense eye contact with a smile on his face, albeit both were more forced than ever.

“Yeah. He’s got robotics club today.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Really? Claus is in there too, but he didn’t have a meeting today.”

“Come on, it’s Lloyd. He’s probably just in there tinkering with the robots. I can call him.”

“... If you say so. Bye, Ninten.”

“Bye, Ninten!” Ness said. While he still looked like he wanted to die a bit on the inside, he mouthed, _thank you._

Ninten grinned and waved the two goodbye.

Ninten for wingman of the year. He could make a career off this shit.

He waited until they had rounded the corner onto the street before reconsidering his options.

He lied; Lloyd had gone home hours ago with Ana. Kumatora was probably still beating up a punching bag, and it was never a good idea to interrupt her during that. Duster was at work. Teddy was making up a test.

Ninten continued running down his list of friends before realizing he probably should’ve just taken the damn offer instead of throwing Ness under the bus.

He sighed and stepped out into the rain.

 

* * *

 

The next day when Ninten stepped into the commons, Ness approached him sheepishly, his hand covering the back of his neck.

“Hey, thanks for yesterday,” Ness said.

Ninten shot him a thumbs up and grinned. “No problem. You’ve been crushing on that boy for two years, and I’ve been kind of getting sick of watching you two dance around each other.”

“Yeah? Well, now you’ll get sick of seeing us be a couple.”

The words took a moment to process, then Ninten’s eyes widened. “You mean…”

“Yeah,” Ness said, rubbing the back of his neck. Despite the blush on his face, his smile shined radiantly. “I confessed to him on our way back. And I’m still alive! That’s a bonus.”

“That’s my boy!” Ninten cheered. He wrapped an arm around Ness’s shoulder and ruffled his hair, laughing at his groans of protest. He turned to the people around them and shouted, “Everyone! Give it up for the moron who stopped being stupid and got himself a boyfriend!”

A few people familiar with them stopped to applaud, but the majority only smiled in their direction and moved on with their lives. Half the students around them had some sort of food or drink item in their hands. One student dropped a load of textbooks. Tears welled in their eyes before another person scooped them up, handed it to them, then walked away as if nothing had happened. Another student weaved through the crowd with a stack of posters, a stapler, and fierce determination. Even in the morning, their school was busy.

Ness wrestled himself out of Ninten’s grip, then leveled an exasperated stare at him. “Did you really have to do that?”

“Yes.”

Ness’s lips curled into a smile when an arm curled around his shoulders. “Good morning, Lucas.”

Lucas smiled back. “Good morning. It’s nice to see you.”

Ninten reached his hand out to ruffle Lucas’s hair as well. “Lucas! My man! You two finally got together!”

“What do you mean ‘finally?’”

Ninten ignored the question in favor of addressing the other person who had walked in. “Hey, Clausy. How are you today?”

“Fuck off,” came Claus’s response.

“Are you just mad we have to sit next to each other in physics now?”

Silence. But he didn’t walk away.

Ninten counted that as a victory and held out a pastry wrapped in clear plastic. “Here. It’s thanks for yesterday.”

Claus’s gaze snapped towards the pastry, then back to Ninten, as if he was uncertain as to whether this was a trick or not. “Dude, it’s a fucking hat. We’re fine.”

“Well, that fucking hat has been mine for ten years. Just take this.”

“Are you telling me your head stayed the same size for ten years?”

“No, I’m just saying I’ve owned it for ten years. Your brain must’ve stayed the same size for ten years, because you’re the only idiot I know who would refuse free food.”

“I don’t know, we kind of hate each other. I think you poisoned it.”

“Why would I waste poison on you? Do you know how expensive that shit is?”

Claus leveled another suspicious gaze at him before slowly taking the pastry. “Fine, I’ll take it. But I’m not eating it.”

“Yeah, whatever, I don’t care.” Ninten waved a goodbye and headed to class, ignoring the concerned gazes Lucas and Ness burned into his back.

And later when Ninten caught him nibbling at the corner of the pastry in math class, he smirked.

 

* * *

 

“How do you do the second problem on this worksheet?” Claus asked.

“Oh, you just translate everything into trig identities, then simplify it.” Ninten passed his notes sheet to him, then took it back once he finished copying the identities down.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

A silence passed over them before Ninten realized what he had just done for someone he hated and Claus realized what he had just asked from someone he hated. They exchanged a panicked glance, then looked down at the table after meeting eyes.

_What the fuck?_

 

* * *

 

Ninten looked down at the pencil he had been using to write notes with in physics for the last thirty minutes of class, then froze. _This pencil isn’t mine. Whose is…_

He slammed the pencil down on Claus’s desk and refused to look up, knowing Claus was giving him a curious look.

 

* * *

 

Ninten had swung at empty air five times before Ness approached him with furrowed eyebrows and a pursed lip.

“I know this doesn’t technically matter since we’re not on an actual field,” Ness began as he pulled them aside to a nearby bench, “but you’ve missed more times today than you did in the entirety of last year. What’s up?”

Ninten looked down, avoiding all eye contact.

The two were supposed to be training together at a batting cage. The facility itself didn’t hold too many people in it, the majority either being parents or children, so that allowed Ninten some comfort. Ness was operating the pitching machine while Ninten batted, but it was clear that probably wasn’t the best arrangement.

Ness set a hand on his shoulder. “Damn, dude, you okay? You don’t have to tell me or anything, but you seem really out it today, and I’m getting worrie—”

“How do you know when you stop hating someone?”

Ness blinked. “Well, that was unexpected.”

“I know,” Ninten grumbled. “Just tell me.”

“I mean, you know I’ve never really hated many people, much less stopped hating them. The only example I can give you is me and Claus.”

“Whatever, it’s fine.”

“I… There wasn’t really a specific reason why we hated each other,” Ness said, holding up his chin with his palm. “He was only mean to me because I was interested in Lucas, and I was only mean to him because he was mean to me first.”

“You two sound like first graders.”

“Yeah, I know, shut up. But then he just randomly started doing nice shit for me. Like, I remember one time when I tripped on the sidewalk, and he literally took out a bandaid for me. Apparently he always carries one around. Weird.”

Ninten raised an eyebrow but allowed him to continue.

“I saw he wasn’t being as mean to me anymore, so I started doing nice stuff for him, too, like letting him borrow supplies, nodding when we saw each other at the gym, just basic civil stuff like that. I feel like you stop hating someone when you can talk to each other without actively antagonizing the other person.” Ness leaned back in the bench and shrugged. “But I don’t know. It’s all personal.”

Ninten stared at the ground.

“Does that help?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Ness.”

“No problem.” He elbowed him and winked. “So who’s the poor guy you hated? Is it Claus?”

Ninten’s heart stopped. He whipped around to him. “How did you know?”

“There’s really no other person you bitch about on the daily,” Ness said with a chuckle. “What changed? The whole thing with him catching your cap for you?”

“... Yeah. Just made me realize maybe he isn’t as much of a dickbag as I thought he was.” Then he quickly added, “Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a piece of shit. Just not as much as I thought.”

Ness hummed in thought before saying, “Then I would call that a dislike. You don’t hate him, but you don’t like him either. So you dislike him.”

“Thanks, Captain Fuck, I didn’t know what the word ‘dislike’ meant.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned and held Ninten’s bat out to him. “Now that we have that sorted out, wanna try again?”

Ninten smiled and took the bat. He stood up, fixing his cap and bandana. “Of course.”

This time, he hit each and every baseball and sent them flying to the back of the cage.

 

* * *

 

 **Mess:** lmaoooo bro guess what lucas just told me

Ninten squinted at the bright phone screen, inwardly cursing his friend’s inability to text him at appropriate times and cursing himself for his inability to leave his friends hanging. He texted back after turning the lamp on his nightstand on.

 **Ninten:** its fucking 2 am ness  
**Mess:** time isnt real

He got him there. Ninten ignored the smile tugging at his lips as he texted back.

 **Ninten:** yeah I know. What did lucas say?  
**Mess:** apparently claus asked him the exact same question you asked me at the batting cage lol  
**Mess:** what do you know its like yall are friends already  
**Ninten:** 1\. No  
**Ninten:** 2\. also no  
**Ninten:** 3\. you have the shittiest southern accent I’ve ever heard, dont even try in text  
**Mess:** :(

Claus had asked Lucas the same question? Ninten should feel glad he didn’t hate him anymore, but now he just felt nervous, almost suspicious.

 **Mess:** stop thinking so much

_How the fuck—_

**Mess:** i can feel ur anxiety from behind the screen jesus christ dude  
**Ninten:** no anxiety here  
**Mess:** whatever. You’ll figure it out.  
**Mess:** dont overthink it. Youre pretty in tune with your emotions. Just think about what feels right

This must’ve been what it felt like when Ninten pulled the exact same bullshit on other people. Karma was real.

 **Ninten:** go to sleep. You have a test tomorrow  
**Mess:** haha  
**Mess:** you say that like im not gonna fail  
**Mess:** gnight  
**Ninten:** gnight loser

Ninten closed out of his messaging app and shut his phone off, more awake and confused than ever. Ness was never cryptic without good reason. And if he was acting like he knew Ninten better than Ninten knew himself, he was either being stupid or knew something he didn’t. Either way, they both knew about the emotional turmoil burning in his chest.

Ah, right. He had set aside a notebook specifically for this.

Ninten climbed out of bed to retrieve the notebook on the very top shelf of his bookcase. He grabbed a pen off his desk and sat back down on his bed, reviewing the notes he had made before. He uncapped the pen and made corrections.

~~_Step 1: Don’t Have Them_ _\- Failed._~~

_Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them._


	3. Step 3: Listen to Outside Advice

Most of the time, Ana was a godsend. She had been Ninten’s second friend in middle school after Lloyd, but their trio of dumbasses had grown closer than any of them thought it would, especially with Teddy joining their squad after the four met in high school. In a way, Ana was almost the mom of the friend group: she reminded everyone about important dates (something that had personally saved Ninten’s ass more times than he’d like to admit), sent good morning and goodnight texts, made food for everyone to share, and was generally a sweetheart.

Now was not one of those times.

“I don’t understand why you two can’t get along,” Ana said, glaring at them like a mother scolding her children. “You’re partners on this physics project. Your grade depends on being able to cooperate with each other.”

Ninten shrunk back in his seat while Claus rolled his eyes.

It was a project work day in physics. Ana had lucked out and gotten Lloyd as a partner. The two had chosen to sit at the table in front of Ninten and Claus, which was probably a bad idea in hindsight. Of course, Ninten couldn’t go five minutes without making fun of Claus for saying some dumb ass shit and Claus couldn’t resist saying whatever came to his mind, so they ended up bickering instead of actually working on the project. Their teacher didn’t care. Ana did, apparently.

“Ninten, you should know better,” Ana said, clicking her tongue. “I’m disappointed in you. Didn’t you even promise your friend you would try to be nicer?”

“Try” was the key word, but Ninten had to admit he hadn’t been trying too hard lately. He kept silent, knowing Ana could call him out on his bluff.

Claus snickered, then Ana rounded on him.

“And Claus, you’re responsible, too. I’m sorry you have to work with Ninten of all people—”

“Thanks, Ana,” Ninten mumbled.

“—but if I recall correctly, you promised your own sibling you would try to get along with Ninten.”

Claus gave Ninten a serious case of side eye, to which Ninten only shrugged. He told Ana everything; that incident was included.

Honestly, it was hilarious watching Ana verbally tear into him with the most polite language he had ever heard someone be roasted in while Claus tried too hard to pretend like he wasn’t listening. Then it suddenly turned not-so-hilarious when Claus snorted, “And why should I listen to you? Fuck off.”

Ana’s face went blank.

Ninten and Lloyd exchanged a panicked glance. Claus tracked their movements and was very obviously starting to regret what had just come out of his mouth.

Ana going blank was never good. Happy Ana was the best! An Ana with a soft smile on her face meant she was content. But hell, even Mad Ana wasn’t as terrifying as Blank Ana.

Ninten’s clearest memory of Blank Ana was back in middle school when he had first met her. Ana’s hat had flown off in the middle of a baseball game, and Ninten had jumped to catch it, landing on his face in the process. Ana has apologized and accepted the hat, then her face blanked at the people on the sidelines snickering at him before delivering the best verbal smackdown a polite, religious middle schooler could. And since then, they were great friends.

Looking back, her speech was riddled with inaccuracies and lacked the wording it needed to truly deliver the punch. It was her unmoving stare that really made the speech. Now that she was older and was less willing to hold back… Well, as much as he hated him, Ninten couldn’t let Claus dig his own grave, much less his own cemetery.

“Hey, Ana, did you get the bread my mom sent you?” Ninten asked, moving to shield her view.

The amused glint in her eyes told him she knew what he was trying to do, but she smiled nonetheless. “Yes, thank you. It was very nice. Could you please let your mother know we’re sending something back?”

“You don’t have to.”

“But we want to.”

“Fine. I’ll call her later.”

Ana hummed, contented with the answer. She turned back to Lloyd to work on her own project.

Likewise, Ninten returned his attention back to the assignment at hand. “So, we’re making an instrument?” He glanced up, only to find Claus’s puzzled gaze latched onto him. “Uh… Claus?”

“You didn’t have to help me,” Claus said.

“Yeah? Well, I wanted to.”

“Can you use your own words for once?”

“No.”

“Fine. Then I guess I’ll write the essay. You figure out how to actually make the damn thing.”

Ninten saluted him, then lazily fell back into the back of his chair. “Aye, aye, Captain Orange.”

“How many nicknames are you gonna give me?”

“A lot.”

 

* * *

 

Whenever Ninten caught sight of a flash of orange hair with a blue and yellow striped hoodie, he prepared himself for war. That included right now as he stood in the hallway in front of the music room with Ness and Ana in tow.

Ninten rolled his eyes after blocking a fist, pushing his attacker back. “Nice try, dickhead.”

Claus managed to catch himself before he was sent stumbling. “I wasn’t even trying.”

“Oh, yeah? Go ahead and try—Ow!” Ninten wrapped his arms around his sides and glared. “Hey, dude, pinches are off-limits.” Before he could go in for a pinch himself, Ana reached over to pinch his ear.

“What did I say about being nice?” Ana said with a pout. “Lloyd and I are getting tired of having to listen to your arguments all of physics class. It would be nice to hear some kind words for a change.”

Ninten wriggled out of her grip with a wince. His glare hardened, and he spat out, “Are you having a good day, _my dear friend?_ ”

There was laughter glittering in Claus’s eyes, and Ninten never wanted to punch it out of him than he did at this very moment. He smirked. “Very much so, _Shortstack.”_

“The same goes for you,” Ana said, tapping her foot.

“I mean, _pal._ ”

“There you go. Now can you say it like you don’t want to kill each other?”

Ness’s gaze darted between the three, and he took a step back. “Okay, this is weird. I’m not getting involved in—”

Ninten’s hand snapped out to grab his wrist. He plastered on a smile despite knowing his eyes showed how dead inside he felt. “What’s up, buddy? Care to play an ol’ round of ball with me?”

Ness wasn’t the brightest kid in the room, but he did have a functioning heart and a knack for reading emotions. There was no way he could miss the obvious SOS.

Then Ness smirked, and Ninten regretted every decision in his life that had brought him to this moment.

Ninten was right; Ness could read his distress signals like a book, and it came in handy sometimes. Now, though… Its usefulness was debatable at best. Ninten needed to act quickly if he was going to make it out of this alive.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ness said, his shit-eating grin only growing larger. “I think I have to—”

“Too bad.”

“What?”

Ninten ran down the hall and out the double doors at its end with Ness in tow, knowing they could outrun both Ana and Claus. He looked over his shoulder once to see the two staring blankly after him, then watched as the doors shut behind them.

“Ness, I hope you know I hate you with every fiber of my being,” Ninten hissed once they stopped running.

Ness laughed and pulled the other’s cap down. “Right. You still up for baseball?”

“You have no right to ask that. But yes."

And even as Ness skipped down to the baseball park with him, Ninten’s fist clenched around his bat.

 

* * *

 

Ninten’s blood ran cold when Lucas walked into their first class wearing a huge grin and a bright face. He mustered up a smile nonetheless and waved to his friend. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I think Claus made a new friend,” Lucas giggled, taking his seat.

“He can make friends?”

“I know, I was shocked, too.”

“With who?”

He hummed in thought and kicked his legs back and forth underneath the table. “I think her name was Ana.”

Suspicion rose. What did they talk about yesterday after he and Ness left? Ninten narrowed his eyes. “Ana?”

“Yeah. I asked him about it later, and he said they bonded over making fun of you.”

Okay, that was slightly less suspicious. The conversation was most likely Claus imitating Ninten while Ana laughed. She wouldn’t entertain a conversation with malice.

Ninten nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Okay, that’s what I expected.” He paused before pinning his suspicions on Lucas. “And why are you telling me this?”

Lucas responded with a well-practiced shrug and said, “I don’t know. I figured you would want to know something involving your friend.”

“She would’ve just told me either way.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Ninten squinted, then gave up the interrogating detective persona and sighed. “You’re weird, Lucas. I like that about you, but I don’t like where this is going.”

Lucas laughed. “Trust me, you won’t be the only one.”

“What?"

“Nothing.”

 

* * *

 

Ana greeted him in physics class with sparkling eyes and a face as bright as the sun. Her arm waved back and forth like a puppy’s tail. “Ninten! Ninten! I figured it out!”

Ninten smiled as he took his seat next to her. “What’s up? Finally got your essays in order?”

“No.”

“Nailed a hard part during your piano lesson?”

“No.”

This was getting suspicious, and Ninten was running out of ideas. “Did you… I don’t know, solve a puzzle or something?”

“Kind of,” she said with a shrug. “Do you want me to just tell you?”

“That would be appreciated.”

“You and Claus don’t insult each other because you hate each other; you do it because you’re friends!”

“What the fu—”

“I’m sorry, what?” came a shout from the entrance of the classroom.

Ninten whirled around, only to see a shellshocked Claus standing, frozen in his place. Whatever. He could deal with him later. He frowned and turned back to Ana. “That’s not it at all. You really think I would be friends with ol’ Gingersnap over there?”

“That’s what Ness calls me, don’t you dare,” Claus growled as he slammed his backpack on the ground. He barreled into his seat next to Ninten. “But yeah, as much as I don’t want to agree with a complete idiot, I have to. We’re the farthest thing from friends you could imagine.”

Ana frowned and tilted her head. “But you seemed to insult every person we passed by yesterday, and you liked them enough. And Ninten, you pull the exact same thing with Teddy and Lloyd. Are they not your friends?”

She was right; he _did_ regularly insult Teddy and Lloyd. But to be fair, the only mean thing he ever threw at Lloyd was nerd, and they both knew it was more of a pet name than a genuine insult. Hell, Lloyd even smiled at it! And whenever Ninten insulted Teddy, Teddy only beamed and threw one back at—Oh.

One look at the horror on Claus’s face was enough to tell him that he had come to the same conclusion.

“But…” Then Claus sighed, shaking his head. He held a hand out to him. His voice dwindled down to just above a whisper. “... Hey. Friends?”

Ninten stared back at him.

Their first meeting had set off the intense rivalry(?) between them, with Claus misinterpreting Ninten’s and Lucas’s interactions and Ninten responding by being a petty jerk. And technically, Ninten had started the whole name-calling business in the first place. In the time following that incident, it seemed their insults were losing their fire and gaining… affection, almost? It was weird. But he couldn’t stop denying the obvious.

Ninten offered him a weak smile and shook his hand. “Friends.”

The bell rang right after Lloyd rushed into the classroom, stuttering out apologies for almost being late. Ninten called him a nerd before he could think about it, and three people smirked at him.

And here he was thinking he had friends.

 

* * *

 

Instead of working on the assignment due the very next day, Ninten lied on his bed with a pen in hand and notebook in front of him, putting too much thought into a subject nobody else cared about.

This was stupid. When had he allowed an enemy to become a friend? Why did he think this was a good idea? Was Claus joking? He sure didn’t look like it… And they even shook hands…

Then Ninten realized he didn’t know all that much about Claus. Sure, he was Lucas’s twin brother, and he had to be at least somewhat fit, judging by how easily he had caught Ninten’s cap a few weeks ago. From what he’s seen, he always said what he was thinking without a care in the world. But that was it. Ninten knew nothing else other than he didn’t completely hate physics. Was that someone he could call a friend?

Perhaps. Hell, maybe Ninten could even take a few lessons from him. He may have hated the guy at first, but maybe thinking too hard about it wasn’t as good of an idea as he thought it was. And if he wanted to know if Claus could be a reliable friend, he would either have to put in the effort. But to do _that,_ he would have to ask around to see which boundaries not to cross.

So he clicked his pen and updated his journal.

~~_Step 1: Don’t have them - Failed_ ~~

~~_Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them - Failed_ ~~

_Step 3: Listen to Outside Advice._


	4. Step 4: Charge Straight Ahead

As much as Ninten would rather eat dirt than admit it, he adored his family. His happiest memories included helping his mother cook, pushing Mimmie on the swingset, reading picture books to Minnie, and so many more moments with his family he wished he had cherished when he was younger. But he could also acknowledge their love of teasing him, and hell if he’d let them scheme with another person who loved teasing him.

“Don’t talk to them, don’t look at them, don’t be your usual annoying self, don’t—” Ninten cut himself off upon Claus mindlessly scroll through his phone. “You’re not listening, are you?”

Claus didn’t look up. He snorted at a picture of a dog before pocketing his phone. “Nope, listening to everything.”

Ninten flicked him on the forehead.

They had finished planning out how they would build their project in class that day (something both them and Ana had rejoiced at). Now, they just needed to build it, and Ninten had blurted he had tools in his house. This was undoubtedly a mistake on his part, but there was no turning back now.

Ninten opened the door to his house and shouted, “I’m home!”

His mother’s response was immediate. “Welcome back, Ninten. How was—Oh.” She stepped into view, and her gaze locked on Claus. “I’ve never seen you before. What’s your name, darling?”

Instead of presenting himself as the arrogant little shit Ninten knew him as, Claus deflated, his shoulders tense and fingers fidgeting. He held his hand out awkwardly. “I’m… I’m Claus. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“No need to be so polite. I’m Carol, Ninten’s mother. Though I’m sure you already know that if he talks about me as much as he talks about you.” With a warm smile and bright eyes, she ignored Ninten’s distressed whine and shook his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“Thank you.” Claus’s gaze flickered to Ninten, a certain type of questioning smugness shining in his eyes.

Ninten shrugged. He knew exactly how he had described Claus to his family. While it wasn’t the most flattering description, he supposed his mother just straight up didn’t believe him, and to be fair, he did have the tendency to overdramatize everything. “We’re going to the basement to work on our project. I’m using Papa’s tools.”

“Be careful, sweetheart,” his mother said. And with that, she stepped back into the living room.

After the dismissal, Ninten grabbed Claus’s wrist and dragged him down to the basement before either his mother or Claus could embarrass him further. As soon as he was released, Claus burst into laughter.

Ninten dug through the tools in the basement before lobbing a ruler at him. “Shut up. Get to work.”

“As you wish,  _ dearie. _ ”

Claus dodged a roll of tape thrown at him before sitting on the floor and laying out a series of PVC pipes.

 

* * *

They were several PVC pipes, two plastic tubes, and who knew how many curse words into misery when a flash of red came zooming down the stairs with a suspiciously familiar object in hand.

“Nintennnn,” his sister whined, flopping down next to him. She held his instrument out to him. “Can you do my composition project for me?”

Ninten gingerly plucked the instrument from her hands. “First of all, be careful with my ocarina.”

“You have another one.”

“That’s a flute!”

Claus elbowed him and clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Come on, Ninten. Won’t you help out your dear family?”

Of course he would take any side that wasn’t Ninten’s in an argument. Ninten elbowed him back hard enough to make him wince. “Ignore the moron over there. Go back to your room, Minnie. Get Pippi to help you or something.”

Instead of doing as he said, Minnie stayed. She poked her head out from his side, her curious gaze locking onto Claus. “Wait… I’ve never seen you before.”

“Because I haven’t been here before.” Claus offered her a peace sign. “Yo. I’m Claus, your brother’s project partner.”

“Claus…? Oh!” Minnie’s eyes sparkled, and alarms rang in Ninten’s head. “You’re the one Ninten said was super annoying but also kinda hot—”

“Minnie!” Ninten hissed, his face burning. He hazarded a glance at Claus, only to see the other’s face was slowly growing red as well. At this point, he was only left with one option. “Fine, I’ll do your stupid project. Get me my composition paper.”

Minnie saluted him before digging through her backpack. She pulled out a stack of papers and handed it to him with an insidious smile. “I knew you would come around.”

“Shut up. Get out of here.”

She skipped out of the basement, humming an original tune to herself.

Ninten rolled his eyes. Minnie was absolutely capable of writing a few basic melodies and harmonies for her middle school music class; she had just proved it. He grumbled to himself as he copied her tune to the page.

After that, all sound stopped. It was suspiciously quiet, a volume Ninten had never been completely comfortable with.

Ninten’s eyebrows furrowed. He turned to Claus. “You okay?”

Claus was staring at him, eyes wide and face still burning. He blinked, then the red slowly faded. “You think I’m—” He shook his head “—I mean, you play ocarina?”

“Yeah? I play flute with the school band, too.”

A smirk returned to Claus’s face, and his expression melted into something more disbelieving. “Of all the instruments you could’ve played, you chose fucking  _ ocarina? ” _

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?”

“Yes? Who the hell plays ocarina?”

“Me.”

He settled back against the wall with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow. “I don’t believe you. I’ve never even seen an ocarina in real life up until now. Play something for me.”

Ninten rolled his eyes. “What shall I play for you,  _ master? _ ”

“Play what you’re writing down.”

“I have six notes on the page, how am I supposed to—”

“Just do it.”

Ninten huffed but set the sheet music in front of him, braced between a toppled glue bottle and a box. He brought the mouthpiece to his lips and played the fastest tune he could, knowing it would sound impressive to a new set of ears in spite of his intonation errors and rhythmic inconsistencies. Still, his performance was disappointing. He scolded himself for each mistake and made a reminder to himself to practice more later.

When he looked back up, Claus stared at him with a softer expression in his face. 

Weird. But Ninten stared back nonetheless, savoring their few moments of peace.

This was nice. Odd, but nice. Silence wasn’t as bad as he thought.

Then Claus said, “Yeah, this is why nobody plays ocarina.”

Well, so much for  _ that. _

“Yeah, well, I play it. And now I have to do this dumb assignment, so give me a second.” Ninten’s grip was tight around the pencil as he scribbled notes, his brow furrowed into a frown. First the physics project, then Minnie being a little shit, and now this. This was certainly one hell of an afternoon.

Claus gaze locked onto his movements. He frowned as well. “You know I was joking, right?”

“Yeah. Just leave it and get to work.”

They worked in silence before Claus turned to him again. “Are you sure?”

Ninten paused and sighed. While he was disappointed Claus didn’t appreciate the music as much as he thought he would, that didn’t mean he deserved cold treatment. “You’re really one needy fucker, aren’t you?”

“No, you.”

“Don’t meme me, you fuck.”

“I’ll do whatever the hell I want to.”

Ninten poked Claus’s side, and everything returned to normal.

 

* * *

“I feel like I’m about to get murdered, and I’d honestly be okay with that.”

Claus sighed before stopping and turning back to Ninten, who only grinned in return. “Just because my house is in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean there’s serial killers or anything.”

“I don’t know. Lucas is looking pretty suspicious over there.”

“Why did I agree to this?” Lucas mumbled.

After Ninten and Claus got nothing done at Ninten’s house and the two realized the project’s due date was in a week, they decided to walk to Claus and Lucas’s home after school. Ninten carried whatever they had accomplished with their project while the other two carried supplies.

Lucas and Claus’s home was in a neighborhood inside a forest. Ninten brushed off the warning about the location from Claus, knowing the other knew no greater joy than exaggerating everything, but upon seeing the sheer density of the trees and the buzz of an unknown bug, it was clear he shouldn’t have cast doubt on his words. Luckily, their house was only a five minute walk into the trees, and they were standing in front of it.

Claus rolled his eyes at Lucas’s question. He pulled the door to their house open and announced, “We’re home!”

“Welcome back, boys.” A tall man wearing a cowboy hat and a red neckerchief materialized in front of them, and Ninten almost walked back out of the house when his sharp gaze landed on him. “Oh, you brought Ness with you.”

“That’s another person,” Lucas said, “That’s Ninten. You know, the one Claus always talks abou—”

“Not true,” Claus interjected as he set their supplies down.

“Yes, it is!”

“Is not!”

Their argument went ignored by their father, who looked Ninten up and down, as if memorizing his profile for a criminal investigation. His face was expressionless, and his stare was colder than ice. Not to mention, the man looked like he could tear him in half with the snap of his finger.

Ninten fidgeted under the intense stare. Should he stare back? Or maybe he should ignore the situation and join the argument? What was the right decision here?

Finally, Ninten’s eyes landed on the other’s red neckerchief, and he became keenly aware neither of theirs had tags on them. He cleared his throat and stuck his hand out. “I’m Ninten, not Ness. Ness wouldn’t know fashion if it hit him on the head. It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

Silence.

Then their father lifted his hand and patted his head, his lips slowly curving into a smile. “Welcome to our home, son. I’m Flint. You and Claus can work anywhere you would like.”

“Um… Thank you, Mr. Flint.” Ninten hazarded a smile back, then turned his attention towards Claus and Lucas, who were still arguing.

Then the door clicked open, and a woman in a reddish pink dress walked in with a dog striding next to her.

“I’m home,” the woman announced. She hummed to herself as she shut the door and gave the dog one last pat on the head before finally seeing Ninten. “Oh, who’s your friend?”

Then mischief sparkled in Claus’s eyes, and Ninten’s heart sank.

“That’s Ninten,” Claus said, a grin on his face. “Ain’t he cute?”

The woman looked so pleased and happy Ninten couldn’t bring himself retaliate. She took Ninten’s hand and shook it wildly up and down. “It’s so nice to finally see you in person! I’m Hinawa, Claus and Lucas’s mother. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ninten.”

“Y-You as well, ma’am,” Ninten said.

“Please, no polite nonsense. You can call me Hinawa, or Mom if you prefer.”

“Thank you, Hinawa.”

Lucas was grinning too, having caught onto his brother’s schemes. He only offered Ninten one last pitiful look before taking a step back, allowing him to fall to his doom.

Fucking traitor. Ninten would get him back one day.

Claus set a hand on Ninten’s shoulder. “And did you know he plays ocarina  _ and _ flute? It’s amazing; I don’t know how he does it.”

Ninten squirmed under Claus’s grip and Hinawa’s doting, tilting his head down as his face slowly reddened. His heart melted from the sheer affection the two were pouring onto him, as saccharine as he knew Claus’s words were. He didn’t know how much more of it he could take before he imploded.

“Now, now, Hinawa, Claus,” Flint said, “You two are suffocating the poor boy.”

Luckily, Claus released him, and Hinawa took a step back. Ninten could finally breathe, though he felt a bit colder without all the contact. He made eye contact with Flint, who nodded in return.

Red neckerchief solidarity. Stronger than any force in the universe.

Hinawa gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for my son’s actions,” she said, “He likes to think he’s sneaky.”

Claus’s jaw dropped. “Wait, how did you know what I was doing?” He shook his head. “Mom instincts, I guess. Stupid question. But am I in trouble?”

“Remember, you only get in trouble if I catch you lying.”

A giggle escaped Lucas, who promptly covered his mouth with his hands.

Claus furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Lucas gets it, you should, too,” Hinawa said, “If you need me, I’ll be planting flowers with your father and Boney.” She kissed her sons on the cheek before stepping outside with Flint.

Claus redirected his attention to Lucas, who was doing a poor job of hiding his amusement. He raised an eyebrow. “Well? Mind decoding that for me?”

“Sorry, I’m busy today,” Lucas snickered. “I’m sure Ninten can help you figure it out.”

“Are you… Are  _ you _ making fun of  _ me? _ You’ve made a horrible mistake, Lucas.”

Lucas only shrugged and headed off towards his room. While he knew his brother’s threat wasn’t empty, it wasn’t as dangerous as he made it out to be, and Ninten could always appreciate nonchalance in the face of petty threats.

“Anyway,” Ninten sighed, “Are we gonna work on our project now?”

Claus blinked. “Oh, right. We can work in my room.”

“Did you forget about our project?”

“No.”

Ninten rolled his eyes but followed.

 

* * *

“We’re done.”

Those were the fateful words Ninten had been waiting to hear from Claus since the project was assigned. Trying to read the rubric Ninten had pulled up on his laptop was like staring directly into the sun and some birds were having a shouting contest outside, but they were done. Their instrument was in front of them, complete and (semi)functional.

Claus elbowed him. “Hey, you’re the musician here. Play a note.”

Ninten elbowed him back but gripped the plastic tube designated as the mouthpiece and pushed down on the clothespin assigned to the note middle C. He took a deep breath, prayed to every deity out there, then blew into the tube.

Middle C. It worked. Holy shit, their instrument worked!

Ninten shotgunned the rest of his water bottle down. He turned to Claus and laughed. His eyelids were heavy, but his heart felt so light he felt he could trek up a mountain without a sweat. Or maybe that was just the copious amount of caffeine he had consumed throughout the night. He couldn’t tell the difference.

But Claus was silent. It was difficult to make out his exact expression in the darkness.

“Claus?” Ninten called, “You okay?”

Claus’s figure in the shadows didn’t move. “Will we still… nevermind. I’m glad this is over.”

There was something off about the way he said that, but Ninten couldn’t find the willpower to stay awake any longer. He managed to set an alarm on his phone before being knocked out into a world of darkness.

 

* * *

They received an A on the project. Ninten looked to Claus to celebrate, but Claus turned away.

Ninten frowned, glancing at Ana and Lloyd for an explanation they couldn’t give.

What was up with him?

 

* * *

“He’s ignoring you? That’s fishy.”

“Who still says the word ‘fishy?’”

“I recommend you be nicer to the person trying to help you out.”

“Do you even count as a person?”

“I’m telling Mom.”

_ “Guys,” _ Mimmie groaned, bringing Minnie and Ninten’s argument to an end.

The three were corralled in the living room while waiting for their mother to finish making dinner. After Ninten was roped into helping his mother set the table, Minnie just  _ had _ to bring up Claus and ask how he was doing. Ninten supposed he looked sad enough at the mention of his name for Minnie to latch onto that conversation topic, and Mimmie was bored enough to join in. And now here they were, discussing Ninten’s relationship problems with far too much sincerity for a pair of middle schoolers.

“It’s not even that he’s ignoring me,” Ninten huffed, crossing his arms. “When I ask him a question in class, he answers it. When I ask him for a pencil, he gives me one. It’s just when I try being friendly with him he doesn’t respond.”

“Just kill him,” Minnie said.

“Trust me, I would love to.”

“If you don’t, I’ll kill him for you.”

“Thanks, Minnie.”

Mimmie rolled her eyes, but she still seemed reluctant to speak. That was okay; Minnie took over for her.

Ninten was ready to send either himself or Minnie flying out the window by the time he finally said, “Listen, what do you two do when your friends are being bitches and you don’t know what for?”

Mimmie’s face brightened. “Finally, something I have experience in!”

Minnie and Ninten turned to her with concerned furrowed eyebrows but allowed her to continue.

“I don’t know if this’ll work in your situation, but… I usually just ignore them back. An eye for an eye is how our history teacher put it.”

“What the hell are you learning in that class?” Ninten asked.

“Don’t worry about it. But anyway, it always ends up with them caving or us just not being friends. But that’s okay. You don’t need those type of people as friends.” 

“Yo, that’s sad,” Minnie said, frowning at her twin. “Ninten, don’t listen to Negative Nancy over here. What you should do is throw hands and  _ make him _ be your friend again.”

Mimmie sighed. “This is why you have no friends.”

“You’re my friend.”

“You’re dumb.”

“No, you.”

As his sisters fought, Ninten reflected on Mimmie’s words.

Mimmie was arguably the smarter twin, but that didn’t mean she had the life experience to necessarily be the wiser. Minnie rushed headfirst into situations like the dumbass she was but always ended up coming out okay. And honestly, Ninten didn’t know who was more trustworthy.

Now that he thought about it, Minnie and Mimmie were just like Claus and Lucas. Mimmie and Lucas were the more sensitive of the duo, more willing to step back and analyze what was happening before involving themselves in the situation. On the other hand, Minnie and Claus acted first without thinking. The word “consequences” wasn’t in their personal dictionary, though Ninten doubted either of the two had bothered picking one up at all (Not to say they were stupid by any means. Because, by god, if they were stupid, what did that make Ninten?). Ninten undoubtedly knew his sisters better than he knew Lucas and Claus. So with that connection, what would he do if Minnie was ignoring him?

It took two seconds for Ninten to realize that was possibly the stupidest question he had ever asked, and he had asked many,  _ many _ stupid questions in the past. And for that matter, what was he doing listening to two middle schoolers on relationship advice? Neither of them knew Claus better than he did, and they sure as hell didn’t have enough life experience to pretend they did.

“Nevermind,” Ninten said, standing up. “Thanks for your help, but I don’t think I’ll take any of it.”

To his surprise, Minnie and Mimmie only smiled at him with matching annoyingly understanding grins.

Mimmie shrugged. “I figured that might happen, but you know best. He’s your friend, after all.”

“Yeah! You’re smarter than you look.” Minnie snickered, “I still can’t believe you have friends. But I’m happy for you.”

Ninten flicked them both on the head.

 

* * *

In the end, Ninten knew neither Minnie nor Mimmie were right. Claus was his own separate person, and trying to compare him to someone else wasn’t right.

“Claus! Can you come here for a bit?”

It was long after school hours. After needing to corral a bunch of idiots a baseball field and listening to high-pitched whining from people who should know better, Ninten was out of patience for the day. And it seemed after a particularly tense robotics meeting, Claus was sick of everyone’s shit, too.

Claus frowned when he caught Ninten’s eyes down the hall and immediately walked the other way.

Frustration boiled in Ninten’s gut. Claus was too good at evading him; if he didn’t act now, he might not get a chance again.

Ninten huffed and ran after him.

Claus, hearing his footsteps pounding towards him, broke into a sprint. And now they were chasing each other through the school with Ninten occasionally shouting at him to slow down. Great. They didn’t look like idiots at all.

Surprisingly, the people still left in the school were completely fine with this. A janitor they passed didn’t look up from sweeping the floors. Two teachers having a conversation with each other didn’t even pause. And Lloyd, who Ninten passed near the robotics room, was too stressed to notice him.

… Okay, he couldn’t just pass by Lloyd.

Ninten paused to jokingly punch Lloyd’s shoulder with a grin. “Hey, man. We’re playing a game later, so get on tonight, okay?”

Lloyd blinked but nodded, his shoulders relaxing. “Thanks, Ninten, but don’t worry about me. You can keep chasing Claus around.”

“How did you—”

“Go!” He pushed him forward.

Right.

Ninten continued forward no matter how much his legs burned and pleaded with him to stop. He locked eyes with Claus.

“Listen,” Ninten called, “Can you just—”

His words were interrupted when he collapsed on the floor, coughing. His lungs felt like they were being squeezed by a press. Every inch of his skin burned.  _ Damn it. Fucking body. Where’s my… _

It then occurred to him that he left his inhaler with his baseball gear. That he left in the school’s baseball building. Shit.

Claus’s eyes widened, panic sparking in them. He rushed to Ninten’s side and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Ninten, are you okay? Can you speak?”

In any other situation, he would have laughed, but Ninten only coughed. He coughed and coughed and coughed for another painful minute until it stopped.

It wasn’t an asthma attack; it was just the effects of running too hard then stopping suddenly. But holy shit, he felt as if he had stared death in the face. 

“Yeah, I can speak,” Ninten said, his eyebrows furrowing into a glare. Now that his heart was calming down from the coughing fit, he could focus on his initial objective. “And I’m gonna say, fuck you.”

“You almost die in front of me and  _ that’s _ the first thing you say?”

“Yes, it is. Why were you avoiding me?”

Claus averted his eyes and scooted away from him, leaving a foot of empty space between them.

Ninten frowned and sat up. That was something he had never seen Claus do before. “You’ve been brushing me off since our project ended. What’s up with that?”

“It’s stupid.”

“I know you’re stupid, and I’m still here.”

“... I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be my friend after the project,” Claus murmured.

Claus was right; that was the stupidest thing Ninten had heard all week.

It must have shown on Ninten’s face, because Claus scowled and looked away. “I told you it was stupid.”

The glare on Ninten’s face softened, and he couldn’t help but think Claus sounded like a child. Ninten could handle this; spending all that time around a mom friend like Ana had to have done him at least a little good. “Well, it’s bothering you, so it obviously isn’t as stupid as you say it is. Why would you think that?”

“It always happens. I always get along with my group project partners, but whatever friendship we built up during that time always ends up meaning nothing. They move on, so I have to move on. I decided I should be first this time.”

“You’re scared of being left behind, so you run away?”

“I never said it was a good solution.”

Ninten sighed and screwed his fist into Claus’s forehead. It was heartbreaking to hear such a confident person reduced to a mess of insecurities, but he couldn’t say he couldn’t relate. “You’re actually dumb. I don’t know who those people are, but you’re stuck with me now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“... Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Not even me literally running away from you?”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Claus paused before scoffing and resting his head on Ninten’s shoulder. “Maybe you’re the stupid one here. What kind of sane person stays after all this bullshit?”

“Bold of you to assume I’m sane.”

“Right. And… And I’m sorry.”

Ninten ruffled his hair, his lips curving into a smile as he watched a scowl grow on Claus’s face. “You’d better be. But you’re forgiven, in case that matters.”

“Friends?”

“Friends.”

Their walk outside the school building was a calm one. Not quite normal yet after everything that had happened, but approaching it.

 

* * *

Now that the physics project was done, Ninten had no reason to be staying up this late.

Ninten sat up in bed, holding his journal against his bent legs and a pen in his right hand. The glaring red numbers on his digital clock read 2:23 AM, but he couldn’t be bothered with something as insignificant as time. He had shit to worry about.

That shit being, of course, Claus.

While his earlier stunt of ignoring and avoiding Ninten was nothing short of frustrating, his reasons for doing so were admittedly understandable. Hell, if Ninten were in the same position, he would be tempted to pull off the same stunt. But it was confusing. Claus seemed like such a confident person, not the type of person to be so insecure about his friendships.

Then it hit him: most of Claus’s friends were originally somebody else’s friends.

Kumatora and Duster were Lucas’s friends first, as were Ninten and Ness. As far as he was told, some kid named Fuel was the first to join robotics club and introduced Claus to his friends there. And while Ninten didn’t formally introduce him to Ana, it was their mutual friendship with Ninten that made their bond possible. The only people Claus had taken the initiative to know better were Lucas and Fuel, and they had all known each other since early childhood (or in Lucas’s case, since they were born).

If this pattern wasn’t a coincidence, what made it so hard for Claus to make friends and keep them? Their own first meeting was abrasive, but that was hardly the typical way someone met a friend. Nothing added up.

If there was one person capable of solving this mystery, it would most certainly not be Ninten. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try.

However, there was one thing he knew he couldn’t do: rely on other people’s words. If he had actually followed his sisters’ advice, he wasn’t sure he would be alive to be writing in this journal right now.

His thoughts drifted back to the day they finished the project. It had taken an embarrassingly long time for Ninten to grasp what Hinawa had been implying when she said she only punished lying. And as lovely as she was, he wasn’t sure she was telling the exact truth, judging by how clueless Claus seemed to be to it.

With that in mind, Ninten pressed his empty hand against the paper of his notebook and wrote.

~~_ Step 1: Don’t have them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 3: Listen to Outside Advice - Failed _ ~~

_ Step 4: Charge Straight Ahead. _


	5. Step 5: Be Honest

The months flew by as Claus and Ninten’s friendship grew stronger, and Ninten couldn’t be happier. Even without their physics project to tie them together, he still found himself stifling laughter from jokes late at night, offering to hang out after school despite knowing he had other obligations, even performing some musical pieces for him (and managing to wrangle a confession from him that he did indeed like the sound of an ocarina, which he counted as the victory of the year).

Then a switch flipped, and Ninten found himself struggling to keep up with Claus instead of the other way around.

Now that Ninten had finally slowed enough to lie still under his blankets, it made sense. First, he was taking more rigorous classes than Claus was (something he regretted now that all that work was starting to pile up). His energy level also tended to spike either up or down depending on what was going on in his life while Claus’s stayed at a stable middle ground. Most of Ninten’s friends had figured it out and knew when to give him space, but how would a new friend know?

The door to his room slammed open, and Ninten immediately retreated deeper underneath his covers.

“Ninten. Get up.”

“Nooo,” Ninten groaned, his voice muffled. He rolled further away from the voice, only for the covers to be ripped away from him and be blinded by the sunshine beaming into his eyes from the window. His hands flew up to cover his face. “Ness, I fucking hate you.”

Ness pried a hand away from Ninten’s face and grinned. “I hate you, too. We have baseball practice today. Did you forget?”

“You’re the only one who ever forgets them.”

And that was true. But now wasn’t the time to bring up old memories, and they both knew it.

“No, I don’t,” Ness said, “But nevermind that. What’s the problem then?”

“I’m tired.”

Ness frowned and took a seat on the edge of the bed, his brows furrowed with concern. His thumbs tapped away at his phone, then he set it aside. “I told everyone we might be a little late. What’s wrong?”

He wasn’t getting out of this one. Ninten sat up in bed with a sigh. “Nothing, really. This happens a lot during this time of year. You know, with all the assignments due and everything.”

“What happened?”

Ninten paused to search through his memories before realizing it would just be easier to simplify it. “I hung out with Claus the entire day, then realized I still had a group project due and all of my teammates were fucking idiots.”

“Wow.” Ness chuckled. “And to think you hated him five months ago.”

“Kind of still do.”

“I can tell when you’re lying.”

“Who are you, my mom?”

“Yes.”

Ninten scrunched his nose, and Ness laughed.

“I get what you’re saying, though,” Ness said, “Sometimes, life just gets in the way of your relationships. That’s just how the world works.” He flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with an unreadable expression. “Maybe you should just tell him you have too much work.”

When Ninten stared at him with a blank face, Ness elaborated. “From what I’ve seen, you don’t have to worry about him. He has enough friends to not be lonely.”

“Fix that last sentence, and you’re right on the money. Loser has no friends.”

“He has you.”

“Fix your sentence before I fix your face for you.” Ninten couldn’t help but smile when Ness laughed. He half-heartedly kicked at the other’s torso. “Alright, alright, you nerd. Let’s go play some ball.”

Ness wrinkled his nose. “Ew. Who would disgrace baseball by calling it ‘ball’?”

“Me. Let’s get outta here.”

“Sure.”

 

* * *

Ninten woke up to an arm wrapped around his shoulder and two amused green eyes staring back at him.

“Good morning,” a familiar snarky asshole said, “You fell asleep in your last class. I had to drag your ass out here before the teacher caught you.”

Ninten looked around, still unsure of who he was or what year he was in.

Instead of the white cement walls of his classroom and the stuffy atmosphere of dead students, he was seated on the bleachers of the baseball field. There was no desk in front of him. The sky above him was blue, not dotted white. Distantly, he heard the crack of a bat smacking against a baseball and some others cheering.

Ninten blinked, finally coming to reality. “Claus? What time is it?”

Claus flipped his phone open. “Um… Four o’clock.”

“Why do you have a flip phone?”

“This is Lucas’s phone.” He frowned upon seeing the confusion on Ninten’s face. “Don’t ask me why he has a flip phone, because I don’t know either.”

“Was I really out long enough for Lucas to time travel?”

“I guess so.”

“Why’s your arm around my shoulder?”

“Had to keep you upright somehow,” Claus said. He retracted his arm back to his side, and Ninten suppressed a complaint that his shoulders were cold now. “What’s gotten into you? You’re a nerd, you never sleep in class.”

“School.”

“Ah.”

Through his sleep-hazed mind, Ninten realized he had three options: switch the topic to something else and continue their conversation on the bleachers, walk home, or go back to sleep. And he had to admit the latter was  _ very  _ tempting, pride be damned.

“Let me sleep,” Ninten mumbled before setting his head on Claus’s shoulder and shutting his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed when the other squirmed under his touch. “I swear to god, if you keep moving, I will behead you.”

Claus accepted his fate and chuckled. “What am I, your pillow?”

“Yes. And pillows don’t talk.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll wake you up in another hour.”

With that, Ninten drifted to sleep again. 

After what seemed like seconds, he woke up again to a laughing Lucas and pink-faced Claus. Through his limited observations clouded with sleepiness, he managed to catch wind of some sort of… accusation against Claus? Fuck, he was too tired for this.

Ninten lifted his head from Claus’s shoulder, looked straight at Lucas, and said, “Why the hell do you have a flip phone?”

 

* * *

 

Even after two caffeine-loaded drinks and three hours of sleep, Ninten still wasn’t fully functional, and he called bullshit.

He and Claus were in the forest surrounding Claus’s house with Boney leading the way. Patches of dirt provided at least a semblance of a road. Sunshine poked through the canopy of the trees, and Ninten quickly realized whoever told him going outside was a surefire way of waking oneself up was bullshitting him. 

Claus glanced at him and stopped on their way to the park. “Are you sure you’re up for walking my dog with me? You don’t seem too awake right now.”

Ninten kneeled down to scratch Boney behind the ear, almost tripping when he did so. Boney accepted the ear scratch but still managed to look worried. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Last time you said that, Ana and I found you knocked out inside a janitor’s closet.”

“Those chemicals can do some funky shit, man,” Ninten said, well aware he had slipped in to catch a quick nap but slept through his alarm. “And why are you so worried? Worry about yourself.”

Claus raised an eyebrow at him. “Because you’re my friend?”

It was weird to hear it out loud, and so openly at that. Still, Ninten couldn’t help the smile that rose to his lips.

“Stop smiling at that, you idiot,” Claus snorted.

“What? It’s illegal to smile now?”

“Yeah. The cops are coming.”

“Who’s the cops?”

“How would I know? Ness, I guess.”

“He can’t even catch me in baseball.”

Claus scoffed, and the smug grin on his face disappeared. “Maybe in your sorry ass state he can.”

Ninten made a face at the sudden change in mood. They continued walking in silence.

 

* * *

“Are you sure you have time to be tutoring me?”

Ninten frowned and looked up from the textbook on the table separating him and Claus. Claus stared back with an equally concerned frown.

The two were seated across from each other in the library. Sunlight filtered in through the large window next to them. A few other students were scattered around the tables inside the library alongside some children and adults browsing the bookcases. There were some hushed whispers, but the building was silent otherwise.

“What makes you think that?” Ninten asked.

Claus sighed and began counting off on his fingers. “Well, first of all, Ana told me you have a concert later today. Then Lucas said you two had a quiz on the last few chapters of a book. Ness said you had baseball practice tomorrow, too.”

“And you trust them with my schedule over me?”

“I don’t know. My brother, your best friend, and some guy who looks freakishly similar to you seem like pretty reliable sources.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ninten pointed at a question in the textbook. “Look over question two. I think you miscalculated something.”

Claus furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something.

“I said don’t worry about it,” Ninten snapped.

Claus shut his mouth, but his worried gaze never left Ninten.

 

* * *

A hand grabbed Ninten’s wrist and pulled him face-to-face with a face that was becoming a little too familiar at this point.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Ninten pried his wrist away and flicked Claus on the forehead. “Um, going home? I don’t know if you know this, but school ended.”

“Don’t sarcasm me,” Claus said. His voice was level and face calm, but his tone was firm enough to make Ninten freeze. He glanced around and continued speaking upon confirming the hall was empty. “It’s fucking eight o’clock. I don’t think you have anything that would make you stay here until eight.”

“What about you?”

“I’m in robotics, and our competition is tomorrow. Of course we’re staying behind.”

Right away, Ninten remembered the countless hours of Lloyd stressing out over his competition over the past week, and he chided himself for taking the route closest to the robotics room. Claus’s excuse was reasonable, but Ninten wouldn’t be able to find an excuse that would match with reality other than the truth. So should he just say it?

Claus’s voice softened. “I’m worried about you, idiot.”

Well, now he just felt bad.

Ninten sighed and looked away. “Fine. I stayed behind to study and do my homework, because I knew my mom would kill me if she knew I put off this much work.”

“You put off your work? For what?”

“You.” Ninten scrambled to correct himself after seeing Claus’s face redden. “Not like that, you fuck. I just wanted to make sure this friendship was secure. I figured me not being energetic would bore you, so…”

Claus looked him up and down with a disbelieving stare. Just as Ninten began to worry he had offended him, he sighed and hid his face behind his hands. “You fucking… Ninten.”

“What?”

“You don’t… You don’t need to do all this for me.” He looked up from his hands, his face redder than the bill of Ninten’s cap. “I like you just the way you are, all ups and downs included. You don’t have to do something stupid like that.”

Ninten stopped. His second sentence repeated in his head.

_ “I like you just the way you are.” _

“You’re such a loser,” Ninten teased. His heart pounded, and he smiled despite knowing he was toeing the border between being calm and running away in a panic. His emotions were on hyperdrive. Or maybe it was the copious amount of caffeine he had just ingested not even an hour ago. “But thanks.”

Claus smiled back and shoved his shoulder. “Nerd. Go get some sleep.”

“No, you.”

“I’m in robotics. This is a no-sleep zone.”

Ninten laughed and elbowed him. He held a hand out to him with a grin. His heart swelled when a matching one formed on Claus’s lips. “Are we good now?”

Claus shook his hand. “We’re good.”

 

* * *

 

Ninten found himself in the same position he was just a week ago, curled underneath Claus’s arm while blinking sleep haziness away. It had become a regular enough occurrence for him to not immediately rip himself away. Instead, he nuzzled himself closer, finding comfort in how warm the other was.

But something was different, even with Ninten still trying to figure out what year it was. The contact was warmer than usual, almost scorching. Not to mention, Claus’s hold on him was tense like he had put his arm around a complete stranger. It would have offended Ninten if he wasn’t concerned. Did something happen? Was he worried about Ninten again?

Ninten removed himself from Claus’s arm. He lied down on his lap and smiled up at the confused expression on the other’s face. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

But instead of helping him relax, Claus only tensed more. He looked down at Ninten with an unreadable expression on his face before looking away and mumbling something.

“Yeah. Friends.”

 

* * *

 

After a few consecutive days of sleeping for as much as twelve hours, Ninten found himself staring at the ceiling of his bedroom with his notebook and pen in hand. He flipped it open and repeatedly read through his last entry.

Looks like past him was a dumbass, because… Charge straight ahead? What did that even mean? Whatever it was, it didn’t work out very well for him.

So Ninten thought back to this past week of fuckery. Ness had told him to be honest with his workload from the get-go, and now that the fog was lifted from his mind and his grades from the abyss, he had no idea why he didn’t just listen to him. Ninten would have felt better, and he would have saved Claus the trouble of worrying about him. But he’d be damned if he ever let Ness know he actually told some good advice for once.

Ninten scribbled it into his notebook instead.

~~_ Step 1: Don’t have them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 3: Listen to Outside Advice - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 4: Charge Straight Ahead. - Holy fuck that failed _ ~~

_ Step 5: Be Honest. _


	6. Step 6: ?????

Ninten was eternally grateful for the fact his friends weren’t fans of overt public displays of affection, especially the two he hung out with more often than not. Lucas was a private person as it was, and Ness was surprisingly shy about anything beyond hugs. It was nice knowing they wouldn’t let their relationship get in the way of their friends.

But now that their relationship had gone on for longer and they were both getting braver with showing affection, Ninten didn’t know what to think.

Ninten wrinkled his nose when Ness and Lucas walked into the commons before classes with linked hands. “Ew. Are you two gonna be like those gross couples who make out in the hallways?”

Ness laughed, but his face was still tinged pink. “You know we’d never do that. I just felt like holding hands with my boyfriend today.”

“That’s what they all say.” Ninten’s lips curled into a smile upon seeing Claus step by Lucas’s other side and wrap an arm around his twin’s shoulders. “Good morning, jackass. You like being reminded of your single status?”

Claus only shrugged and held his brother closer to him. On the other side, Ness’s grip on Lucas’s hand grew tighter.

Lucas shot both Ness and Claus an exasperated look before separating from them and moving to Ninten’s side. “I’m done with both of you. I like Ninten better.” He slipped his hand into Ninten’s, laughing at the incredulous faces on Ness and Claus.

I can’t believe you stole my boyfriend,” Ness said, though the giggles spilling over did nothing to help him be taken seriously, and it wasn’t as if it was meant to be serious in the first place.

Ninten grinned and flashed them a peace sign. “You’d better watch out, because Mr. Steal-yo-girl’s in the house!”

”Ninten, the only thing you can steal is your own breath.”

“And Lucas’s, apparently.”

The three shared a laugh, Lucas’s grip on him becoming looser from the laughter and Ness doubled over in laughter after he shot back an equally sarcastic quip.

But Claus wasn’t laughing. In fact, his gaze burned Lucas, who was too busy laughing to notice his twin’s predicament.

Eventually, Lucas stopped laughing first. He looked up at Claus, and his smile tensed, as if challenging the other. His grip on Ninten strengthened for a split second before Lucas released his hand.

And just like that, life returned to normal. If Ninten had looked away for a split second, he might have missed it.

Was he the only one to have spotted that? It sure seemed like it. Ness and Lucas were back to holding hands and talking quietly amongst themselves while Claus scrolled through some random social media feed on his phone and occasionally tapped at the screen. Everyone around them was busy either heading to class or chatting amongst their own friend group. It was surreal.

Ninten blinked. He said his goodbyes and headed to class early. There was no use sticking around if he was so out of it today.

His hand burned even after he had made it to the classroom. Lucas’s hand hadn’t felt bad, but he found himself wishing it had been someone else. Someone like…

Ninten coughed and buried his head beneath his arms.

No.

 

* * *

“You actually waited for me?”

Claus raised an eyebrow at Ninten, pulling his backpack strap over his shoulder in preparation for the walk home. “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

“You got me there. Thanks, I guess,” Ninten said.

Even with the swell of gratitude in his heart that Claus had stayed behind two hours after school to wait for Ninten to finish baseball practice, Ninten couldn’t help but be too aware of the sweat dripping down his forehead and his overly flushed face and the general gross state he was currently in. Hell, he couldn’t even bring himself to talk properly after the particularly rough practice session.

“Nice job today, Ninten!” one of his teammates said before patting him on the shoulder and walking away.

Ninten shot him a grin, but his legs shook under the pressure of the gear he had on him and the smack. It was only a matter of time before he—

“I’ll hold it,” Claus said. He snatched the bag of baseball gear away from Ninten before he could protest. His eyes narrowed into a glare when Ninten reached for it. “You look like you’re gonna fall over any second. As much as I would love to see that and make fun of you for it, I would rather not have to drag your ass home.”

As much as Ninten hated to admit it, he had a point. If there was any kind of hill on their way home, he would be as good as gone.

Ninten mumbled his thanks and started the trek back home with Claus by his side. His eyes fell on Claus’s free hand as the other rambled on about something that happened that day.

Did friends hold hands? Or was that just a couple thing? While he did regularly see Ana holding hands with her friends (including him), the fact it took this long for Ness and Lucas to start holding hands in public told a completely different story…

Ninten pried his gaze away from Claus’s hand and stared straight ahead.

 

* * *

It wasn’t often everyone in Ninten’s closest friend group had the same day off, but when they did, it was like they had never separated at all.

Ninten stared at Teddy, betrayed, as Lloyd and Ana laughed hysterically beside him. His gaze flickered down to the plus four card on the stack of Uno cards that Teddy had just laid down then to his already filled hand. “Why?”

“Sorry about that, buddy,” was Teddy’s response, but the smug smile on his face told him the opposite. “The color’s green now, by the way.”

The nerve. The betrayal. The absolute horror.

Ana’s eyes lit up. She placed down a green card, as did Lloyd and Teddy.

Ninten shuffled through his cards as his friends barely suppressed their giggles. “This might take a while. I know I have a green card somewhere in here, though.”

A blue three, a red nine, a reverse card, a wild card, and… a blank card with a sunflower drawn on it?

Ninten held the sunflower card out. “Ana, why’s this in your deck?”

Ana took the card with a sigh. “My best guess is one of the kids at my church thought it would be funny.”

“I mean, it kind of is,” Lloyd chuckled.

As the conversation about the card continued, Ninten traced his thumb over the black outline of the sunflower, noting that even through the imperfect smudges and shaky writing of a child, the shape of a sunflower was still identifiable. The edges of the petals were crisp, as was the paper itself. Somehow, it seemed to radiate brightness.

“Can I keep it?” Ninten asked.

Three stares fell on him.

Ninten caught their stares and smiled sheepishly. “It kind of reminds me of Claus.”

Silence.

“... What?”

“N-No, you can keep it,” Ana said, a grin forming on her lips. She elbowed Lloyd. “Sunflowers definitely embody who Claus is, right? You should know.”

Lloyd nodded frantically. “Right.”

Teddy’s eyebrows were furrowed, but he only shrugged at the mention of the unfamiliar person. “Ana, it’s your turn.”

“Of course.” With that, Ana placed down a green reverse card.

Ninten spent the rest of the round humming happily, occasionally glancing over at the sunflower card on the table fondly.

 

* * *

It was only after that evening at one in the morning when what Ninten had implied at the hangout truly processed in his head.

Ninten slammed his face into a pillow and screamed.

 

* * *

“...ten? Ninten!”

Ninten snapped out of his trance when Claus shook him by the shoulders. Then he realized he was in the middle of physics class and probably shouldn’t be zoning out. “Yeah?”

Claus sighed and retracted his hands. “I was asking you to double check my calculations on the worksheet.”

“And why would you need my help for that?”

“I don’t, but Lucas left his calculator at home, so I did all of this by hand.”

“Nerd.”

“Loser,” Claus huffed. He turned back to the worksheet but passed it onto him. “What were you distracted by anyway?”

Ninten’s eyes ran over the subtle outline of muscles on the part of the other’s arms that weren’t covered up, the shine in his eyes, the ridiculous color scheme of his hoodie, his messy hair, the golden necklace Lucas had gotten for him that he insisted he didn’t like but ended up wearing anyway,  _ his lips— _

Ninten coughed and whipped his head away, his face burning. He could feel Ana and Lloyd’s worried gazes on him, but he refused to turn in fear that his heart would explode.

_ What the fuck? _

 

* * *

It was another bright morning in the commons of their school when Ness walked in with Lucas’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, both blissfully unaware of Claus third-wheeling behind them but painfully aware of the unamused expression on Ninten’s face.

Ness shot Ninten a grin. “Good morning. Jealousy’s not a good look on you.”

“Good morning, fuckhead. I’d say looking like you’re about to pass out at any given moment isn’t a good look on you either.”

“It isn’t.”

“Am I holding you too tightly?” Lucas mumbled.

Ness leaned into his touch and gave him a reassuring smile. “No, no, you’re fine. I’m just kind of nervous.”

“Me too. But it’ll be okay.”

“Holy fuck, can you get out of my way?” was the only warning Claus gave before pushing past them to join Ninten’s side. His lips tugged into a hint of a smirk for a split second before settling into a frown.

Lucas sighed, though his arm was still around Ness’s shoulders. “Why are you like this?”

“You wouldn’t get out of the way.”

“You couldn’t have asked politely?”

“Knowing Ness, he would just stand still if I asked.”

Ness grinned and raised a peace sign. At least he didn’t deny it.

Ninten laughed, but it was cut short when he realized he felt there was something missing on his own shoulders. He took a deep breath and fought to keep his gaze on Ness and Lucas.  _ Don’t look at him, Ninten. Just don’t. Don’t do it. _

The weight of Claus’s arm settled on Ninten’s shoulders, and he suppressed a scream.

“Whatever, we don’t need you guys,” Claus said, sticking his tongue out at them, to which Lucas’s lips tugged up into an amused smirk and Ness pouted. He craned his head down to meet Ninten’s gaze. “Right, Ninten?”

It was too warm, both the contact and the sheer affection in Claus’s gaze. Claus’s smile was too bright, too sunny, and it made Ninten’s heart beat too quickly. The look on Ness’s face was too smug, and Lucas’s expression was too understanding.

Ninten stumbled out of the grip, pain shooting through his heart upon seeing Claus’s face fall. “I, um… I just remembered I have to do something. Bye!” He weaved through the crowd and ran as fast as his feet would take him.

What happened?

 

* * *

“Hey, Ness?”

“Ninten, it’s two in the morning, what are you—”

“What does it mean when everything a person does makes you smile?”

Silence fell on the other end of the call, then Ness sighed. “Are you seriously gonna make me answer that question this late at night?”

Ninten stayed silent.

He should have been asleep long ago, but the memories of everything that had happened the past few weeks plagued him. The only source of light in the room was his phone screen displaying Ness’s contact picture and the time of their call. The moon wasn’t visible from outside his window tonight. The night was overwhelmingly quiet.

“Ninten,” Ness called, “Do you remember what I told you when I got a crush on Lucas?”

“I wish I didn’t, but yeah.”

“And do you see how what I said back then and what you’re saying now are overlapping too much to be coincidental?”

Ness was a lovesick disaster for a while, something they both witnessed together. If Disaster Ness said the same things Ninten was saying, then that meant…

Fuck.

“I didn’t know you knew words longer than three syllables,” Ninten said, his throat drying and heart speeding up. An overly defensive move, but they both knew what Ness was implying and who was the only possible person Ninten would have such feelings for. He buried himself deeper into his blankets as if hiding from the dark was comparable to hiding from his feelings.

Ness paused before continuing. “Yeah. Who knew?”

A weight was lifted from Ninten’s chest. “Thank you.”

“You’re obviously not ready to voice this out loud yet, so don’t say it to me.”

“Then what do I do?”

“I don’t know. Write it out?”

Ninten’s gaze fell on the notebook buried deep behind other books on his bookcase. “Yeah. I think I’ll do that. Thanks, Ness.”

“No problem. Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Yeah. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” And with that, Ness ended the call, and Ninten was left alone in the darkness.

Well, not completely alone.

Ninten turned on the lamp next to his bed before climbing out of his blankets, digging through his bookcase for the notebook. He grabbed a pen off his desk and fell back onto the bed.

Now that Ness had phrased it that way, Ninten couldn’t believe he didn’t figure it out sooner. He saw what Ness and Lucas had acted like around each other before dating; how did he fall into the same oblivious trap as them? And why did it have to be for Claus of all people?

Ninten flipped his notebook open and scoffed at his latest entry. ‘Be honest’? Like hell he would, especially after he ran away from him.

He crossed it out and wrote in a new entry.

~~_ Step 1: Don’t have them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 2: Re-Evaluate Them - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 3: Listen to Outside Advice - Failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 4: Charge Straight Ahead. - Holy fuck that failed _ ~~

~~_ Step 5: Be Honest. - no no no no no no no _ ~~

_ Step 6: ????? _


	7. Step 7: -----

After an awkward apology for running away so suddenly and several days of pretending like he wasn’t dying, Ninten finally felt as if things had returned to normal. Ness wasn’t shooting him concerned glances every two seconds, Lucas and Ana were themselves for lack of a better descriptor, Lloyd hadn’t blown up a room with a rocket, and Teddy hadn’t gotten himself into a fight yet this week. Everything was fine.

“What’s up, nerd?” Claus said before pushing him into a locker.

Oh, right, he actually had a crush on this loser.

Ninten grinned and pushed him back. “Why don’t you take a look at yourself?”

“That’s actually the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”

“Nope. That would be your existence.”

“Real original.”

“Shut up. Not like you can think of anything better.” Before Claus could inevitably say some dumb shit and prolong the argument, Ninten grabbed the other’s hand and tugged him along the hallway. “We’re going home. Ness said he would meet us by the baseball field gates.”

Claus stumbled at the sudden movement before accepting his fate and running outside with him. Despite the fact they both knew he could run side-by-side with Ninten and not break a sweat, he remained a couple paces behind him at all times.

Ninten wasn’t stupid enough to suddenly stop running and turn around to figure out why (Well, he had been at one point in his life, something Lloyd was always quick to remind him about). He waved once they closed in on the baseball field gates.

Ness turned to them, swinging his baseball bat over his shoulder _(it doesn’t make you look cool, Ness, you’re a dweeb)._ “I texted Ninten ten minutes ago. What took you guys so long?”

“Well, excuse me for having class on the other side of school,” Ninten huffed.

Claus only rolled his eyes and turned away.

… And it was taking an awful long time for Ness to respond. What was he—

Ninten narrowed his eyes at Ness’s smug smirk. _Don’t you fucking say it, Ness. Don’t be a dick._

Ness’s smirk softened into his usual smile. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go home.” He turned around and walked along the sidewalk, and Ninten and Claus followed.

Okay, so Ness hadn’t been stupid enough to say anything suspicious. Good. It was probably time to let go of Claus’s hand.

Ninten released the other’s hand, immediately regretting it once he sensed the confused gaze Claus sent him and how cold his hand had gotten without the contact.

“Is your hand sweaty or something?” Claus asked.

Ninten shook his head.

“Do you not like holding my hand?”

“It’s not like I _don’t_ like it.”

Claus paused before taking his hand again.

Okay. This was a thing now. Don’t panic, Ninten. Don’t _fucking panic—_

Actually, this was nice.

Ninten ignored his lurching heart and tightened his hold.

 

* * *

 

Apparently Ninten’s life wasn’t disastrous enough, so whoever the hell was up there decided to throw a curveball at him in the form of a presentation in his first class.

Lucas laughed when Ninten groaned. The two were in the computer lab with the rest of their class, undoubtedly with the same plan to bullshit through the presentation and achieve the bare minimum. Computer lab days meant nothing was going to get done. He could already see a few people on CoolMath playing games instead of doing anything related to math (and why would they be doing math anyway? This was a language arts class).

“You have good presentation skills,” Lucas said, “What are you worried about?”

Ninten shrugged. “Just don’t wanna do it, I guess. None of this is useful to me anyway.”

Lucas nodded absentmindedly, clicking on the link leading to the rubric. A smile popped up on his face, a smile Ninten didn’t trust. “You know… there’s bonus points for creativity. And you were saying you wanted to bring up your language arts grade earlier.”

“I don’t like that tone.”

“Maybe you could play something for the class on your instrument.”

Truth to be told, that was actually a good idea and Ninten was angry he wasn’t the one who came up with it. He could arrange something that would double as both extra creativity for this presentation and his “project” in his music class (could it even be called a project if it was optional?). He would jump at the chance to do it if he didn’t sense a catch to Lucas’s suggestion.

Lucas chuckled again at the unamused expression on Ninten’s face. “I know what you’re thinking. Honestly, I just wanted to hear you play.”

“Why?”

“Claus never shuts up about it, but he won’t tell me what you sound like,” he laughed. He crossed his arms and sighed fondly. “I swear, he never learned to share when we were younger.”

Ninten would never admit his heart lurched at that, but it did anyway, and that’s the part that concerned him the most. He gulped. “You can… You can record it for him, if you want.”

Lucas tilted his head and gave him a strange smile.

“I mean, if he’s not in this class and he likes it that much, might as well have someone record it, right? Can’t be me, I’m presenting. And you’re my only friend in this class who actually knows him, so…”

“‘Knows him’ is a massive understatement.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

Still, Lucas shot him a sunny grin. “But yeah, sure. I’m surprised you made it this far with him, though. Didn’t you two hate each other?”

“I still hate him.” It was a blatant lie, and the mischievous sparkles in Lucas’s eyes told Ninten he wasn’t as good of a liar as he thought he was.

“Sure, Ninten,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

“You’re cheerier than you usually are.”

Ninten frowned and checked his reflection on the black screen of his phone. “I am? I don’t notice it.” When he looked back up at Ana from across the cafe table, her smile was so bright he felt he needed to look away. “What are you smiling at me like that for?”

“Nothing,” Ana laughed.

Suspicious, but there weren’t enough clues for Ninten to make an assumption. He shrugged it off and switched topics.

 

* * *

 

“You’re smiling much more often than you used to. What’s gotten into you, Ninten?”

Ninten nervously sipped at his cup of water at the dinner table while his sisters gave him evil grins. His mother smiled as if she didn’t notice him ready to jump out of his chair.

Minnie spoke first. “Aw, does it have to do with that—”

“I can blackmail you better than you can blackmail me,” Ninten said.

Minnie pouted and leaned back in her chair. One for Ninten, zero for Minnie. Take that.

Mimmie’s exasperated gaze darted between her siblings before finally landing on her mother. “Maybe he planted something in Minnie’s room again.”

Ninten raised his palms up defensively. “Hey, last time I did that was three years ago, and you have to admit it was pretty funny.”

“Why else would you be so happy?”

“What? It’s a crime to smile now?”

“Maybe being so defensive about it is.”

Ninten shut his eyes, blocking out Minnie’s “Ooh!” and his mother laughing at them. He was grateful Mimmie was pretending like she didn’t know what was up ( he was certain Minnie had blurted it out to her at some point over the past couple of months). And his mother? He trusted Minnie enough to know she wouldn’t tell their parents about his predicament, but there was always the chance his mother had pieced it together from what he told her about his days.

But whatever.

“Well, as long as you’re happy,” his mother said, a strange smile at her lips.

Everyone was becoming smugger by the day, and Ninten didn’t like it. But as long as his mom was smiling, everything was fine.

 

* * *

 

Everything was not fine. At least, not in the half hour in the hallways before school started.

“Can you fuck off for two seconds?” Ninten grumbled, “I’m trying to get my books out of my locker.”

Claus scoffed and rolled his eyes, leaning on the locker next to his. “What kind of coward doesn’t bring their books with them home? Is your back that fragile, grandpa?”

“Weren’t you just complaining about your back yesterday?”

“No.”

Ninten knew for a fact he had the text records to prove his point, but he settled for a snort instead. “Okay, moron.”

“You’re the moron.”

“At least I don’t get a bruise whenever I do anything remotely physical.”

Claus scrambled to cover the new bruise on his shoulder he had texted Ninten about yesterday. “No, I don’t.”

Ninten smirked, knowing he had won the argument even with the other’s denial. “Sure, you don’t. I totally don’t see four on your arm right now.”

“I’ll give _you_ four bruises.”

“Go ahead. You won’t.”

He paused, and something on his face changed. “You really think so?”

Before Ninten could comment on the sudden change in tone, he was pinned to the lockers with Claus looming over him.

It wasn’t funny anymore. Claus was smiling that heart-stopping grin of his and had his hand pressed against Ninten’s shoulder. The contact scorched his skin. The world disappeared around them. All Ninten could sense was Claus, Claus, _Claus—_

Claus’s grin softened into a gentle smile. His eyes crinkled, stars swimming in them. His hand moved to cup Ninten’s cheek. “Told you so,” he whispered.

God, his voice was so soft. Claus looked at him like he was the center of the world, and Ninten felt he could melt under the sheer warmth of his gaze. Ninten leaned into the touch, his own hand reaching up to hold Claus’s hand closer to him. His heart soared. He couldn’t help but smile.

It only registered then how close they were. Ninten’s gaze drifted down to the other’s lips, then back up. There were only a few inches separating them. If he leaned forward just the tiniest bit—

Fuck. What was he thinking?

Ninten slipped out, his heart beating so quickly he was certain it was visible. He stumbled to the end of the hallway before turning back. His heart shattered upon seeing the confused, heartbroken look on Claus’s face. “I-I’ve gotta get to class. See you in physics.”

Then the expression on Claus’s face became unreadable. All the affection from their moment was erased and replaced with something more robotic. His voice was cold. “Right. See you.”

Ninten hurried to his classroom, his heart sinking with every step he took.

Shit. Goddamn it.

He was a fucking idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> so this first chapter is mainly centered around how lucas develops claus and ninten's relationship. subsequent chapters will do the same with different characters.


End file.
